Madonna's six-month Drowned World 2001 world tour combined state-of-the-art sound equipment, provided by Clair Bros./Showco, with good old-fashioned hard work; apart from one song lip-synched from a trapeze, Madonna sang throughout the energetic and spectacular show. Backed by a five-piece band and two backup singers (with occasional synthesizer and percussion parts streamed from a Pro Tools system), Madonna sang into a Sennheiser SKM-3072UX wireless mic fitted with a 300E capsule. Backing vocalist mics were Shure U1 RF systems with Beta 58 capsules.

Clair Bros. veteran Dave Kob (pictured below) mixed FOH on the Showconsole. “It worked out brilliantly,” said Kob, who had not used the proprietary digitally controlled analog console before, and spent two months in pre-production and rehearsals. “The ability to recall snapshot presets for each song and tailor the crossfades between songs made for an exceptionally smooth-running and consistent show.” Kob used a Summit TLA-100 compressor on Madonna's vocal channel and a 2-channel Tube-Tech CL-2A compressor on the backing vocalists. Reverb and effects were provided by an Eventide H3000, a TC Electronic M5000 and M2000, and Yamaha SPX1000s. A pair of TC Electronic D-TWO Multitap Rhythm Delay units provided delay.

The P.A. for the tour was a Clair I-4 line array system augmented with Clair's new I-4B bass bins, which were flown with the P.A. rather than stacked. All bandmembers used Future Sonics IEM III wireless and wired in-ear monitors, though CBA R-4 II full-range monitor cabinets supplemented with CBA ML-18 subwoofers were placed onstage for the dancers. The monitor mixer was Blake Suib at a Midas Heritage 3000.